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Feb. 21, 1950 R. F. SHOUP 2,498,380

SAFETY MECHANISM TO PREVENT OVER VOTING IN VOTING MACHINES Filed June 2,1948 4 Sheets-Sheet l Rl Z FOR JUDGES OF THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR JUDGESOF THE SUPERIOR COURT (TWENTY-0N5 To (TWENTV-ONE TO BE ELECTED a EELECTED) EIDUENEIDEIEIEIDEJEIUEIEIDEIEIEI.

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/J06 J07 as 405 i .5 ,4 INVENTOR. 5% T j ISA/1490M f J/ /w/P 1676 ifArm/M549 Feb. 21, 1950 R. F. SHOUP 2,498,380

SAFETY MECHANISM TO PREVENT OVER VOTING IN VOTING MACHINES Filed June 2,1948 '4 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR. Ban/50M .F fi/mup Feb. 21, 1950 R. F.SHOUP SAFETY MECHANISM TO PREVENT OVER VOTING IN VOTING MACHINES 4Sheets-Sheet Filed June 2, 1948 0 7% w w m W n F a a M W N c a A W 1 P"m m Fm}- F|| a m 1 0 M Wll 7/ xnWM T \m )1 1 LWJ- I Patented F eb. 21,1950 SAFETY MECHANISM TO PREVENT OVER VOTING IN VOTING MACHINES RansomF. Shoup, Ardmore, Pa., assignor to The Shoup Voting MachineCorporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationJune 2, 1948, Serial No. 30,693

8 Claims. 1

This invention relates to voting machines and more particularly votingmachines of the type covered by Shoup Patent No. 2,054,102.

At a general election of county, State or national officials, frequentlythere is also an election of a large group of local ofiicers such aslocal judges or the like for which each party presents as manycandidates as there are oificers to be elected and each voter has theprivilege of casting a single straight ticket party vote for allofficers, or splitting his vote between the candidates of the parties,or of casting a personal choice vote for individuals other than theparty candidates. For a voting machine to handle such an election, itmust be capable of being set up in such a manner that a straight ticketoperating means or lever is available for use to vote a straight ticketfor such a group of candidates presented by one or more parties. In sucha situation, the individual vote indicating spindles in a party columnare all actuated by operation of the straight ticket lever assigned tothat party column. Particularly where a large number of candidates areinvolved, as an illustration twenty-one candidates, it is possible for avoter to actuate, as an illustration the straight ticket lever for theRepublican party, which actuates all of the twenty-one individual votingspindles of that party. If the voter then returns one of the individualvote indicating spindles to unvoted position, and then actuates anyindividual vote indicating spindle in another party column, as anillustration the Democratic party, he has now in effect marked hisballot for a split ticket. If, after having done this, the voter thenagain endeavors to actuate the straight ticket lever for the Republicanparty, this places the large leverage available against one individualpull strap, namely, the strap for the Republican candidate who had beencut. The leverage is so great on this one pull strap as to make itsometimes possible for the strap to physically be forced into theinterlock; in effect representing the twenty-second vote, which is anillegal vote, as the voter is only entitled to twentyone. Such apossibility must be eliminated in order to insure absolute honest andaccurate elections.

An object of this invention is to provide a safety mechanism for use invoting machines which will make it physically impossible for a voter,once he has actuated a straight ticket lever, to again actuate this samelever in an endeavor to cast an illegal vote.

Other objects, novel features and advantages of this invention willbecome apparent from the 5 following specification and accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front view of the voting machine illustratingthe manner in which it is set up for the selection of a large group ofoflicers, for example, judges of the Supreme Court with twenty-one to beelected and showing the position of the voting levers before the voterhas registered his straight ticket or other vote;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of the voting levers whenthe voter has cast his straight ticket ballot for all twenty-onecandidates of one of the parties by operation of the proper straightticket lever;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear view in perspective of the frame of thevoting machine to which the safety mechanism embodying the invention hasbeen applied and illustrating the position of the mechanism before anyvote has been cast;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the position of the partsafter the voter has operated the straight ticket mechanism to cast hisballot in accordance with the showing of Fig. 2, i. e., all thecandidates in column 1;

Fig. 5 is a similar perspective view of the position of the parts afterthe vote in accordance with Fig. 2 has been cast and during the returnmotion of the released straight ticket mechanism to original position;

Fig. 6 is a similar perspective view illustrating position of partsafter a voter has operated the straight ticket lever as shown in Fig. 2and released it for return to its original position and in which thereleased straight ticket operating mechanism has completed its returnmovement and wherein reoperation is prevented by the position of thesafety mechanism;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the safety plate member of the safetymechanism embodying the invention;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 8--8 of Fig. 6and viewed in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 8a is a fragmentary elevational view of the safety plate showing amodified structural detail of a pawl part of the safety mechanism;

Fig. 8b is a fragmentary separated view of the mounting members used tosecure the safety mechanism in place over selected of the votingspindles;

Fig. 9 is a transverse section taken along line 99 of Fig. 1 but showingthree voting columns of the machine;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary elevational view of the 3 parts shown in Fig. 7in a different operational position; and

Fig. 11 is a similar View of the same parts in still another positionduring operation.

In so far as practical, the reference characters used herein willcorrespond to the reference characters used in the specifications ofShoup voting machine patents such, for example, as Shoup et a1.2,054,102 and Shoup 2,191,086.

In the voting machine of Shoup Patent i 2,054,102, there are verticalrows or columns of spindles and a main interlock, together withinterlock straps for connecting to the main interlock the spindles ofcolumns l to 9 counting away from the interlock. Figs. 1 and 2illustrate only the first and second columns. The interlock straps forthe spindles of these columns are of the variable length type shown andare described in copending Shoup application Serial No. 733,379, filedMarch 8, 1947. with means for enabling a voter to record a personalchoice vote including a slot for each horizontal row of spindles, eachslot being normally closed by a slide which the voter may open to writein. his personal choice on a strip of paper 1 properly arranged for thepurpose.

The spindles 3B are journaled at one end in a plate 39 and at the otherend are journaled in vertical straps 40. Each spindle is equipped withan operating handle and is of square cross-section except that it isprovided with a circular groove 38a to be received in a circular bearingprovided therefor in straps 40. Each spindle 30 extends through andsupports a channel member 90, the ends of which engage the plate 39 anda strap 43, and the channel member til is received within squareapertures in two arms59 and 59. A rod 5% extends between and has its endattached to the arms 59 and 59. A plate 59a is attached to each arm 59through the intermediary of the rod 5% which passes througha hole in arm59 and a slot in the plate 59a. The plate 59a is thus slidably androtatably connected to the arm 59' and is, therefore, capable ofbeingadjusted to different positions relative to the arm as fully describedin said Patent 2,191,086. By reason of the rectangular crosssection ofthe channel member 60 and its snug fit on the square portion of thespindle 38, it is firmly secured to the spindle for rotation therewith.Likewise, rotation of the spindle 38 causes rotation of the arms 59 and59'. The arms 59 cooperate with their restoring frame 55 as described insaid Patent 2,054,102 and the arms 59 and plates 59a cooperate withvertically and horizontally movable members N0 and straight ticketvoting handles I95 in the manner described in the said Shoup Patent2,191,086. For straight ticket voting of a group of candidates byoperation of straight ticket operating levers I95, vertical rows orcolumns of spindles 38 are set up, asdescribed in said Shoup Patent2,191,086 so that operation of any straight ticket operating levers I95over one of such columns or rows actuates all the spindles set up in thevertical row under it to vote indicating position, the levers W5 andmembers I90 being biased for self-restoration after such'actuation.

A counter C is associated with each spindle 38 and is provided with adrive pinion 43 having a square aperture through which extends thesquare portion of the spindle 38. The counter C preferably is of theconstruction described and claimed in the Shoup Patent 2,140,336.

Each rod 5% has connected therewith one end The machine also is equippedof an interlock strap 6| leading to a main interlock 42 of aconstruction described and claimed in Shoup Patent 2,191,086. In theinterlock 42 are provided a plurality of interlock members 62, certainof which are tubular for the purpose of receiving pins 63 extendingthrough apertures in the interlock casing for the purpose of fasteningsaid members against movement relative to the casing. Each interlockstrap passes between the pair of interlock members 62 and is providedwith a wedge 64 for spreading two members apart.

In the wall 10, there is provided a vertical column of personal choiceslots I39 with a slidable closure for each slot. In the back of theslots is a' guide table Ml over which passes a sheet of paper Hi2 from afeed roller his to a take-up roller (not shown). A yoke E59 pivotallysupported on a vertical rod |50a is rotated counterclockwise from theposition shown in Fig. 9 by movement of any closure M6 to its openposition and, when actuated is returned to its original position uponreturnof the machine to curtain-open position by means (not shown) butfully disclosed in said Shoup Patent 2,054,102. The yoke lfillcooperates with mechanism (not shown) to advance the strip 142 apredetermined distance for each actuation of the yoke.

The rod IBM is supported by brackets I501) attached to a vertical plate1500 of theshape shown in Fig. 9 and'the plate I500 is provided with avertical series of apertures constituting guideways for links I 6! whichat one end are attached to arms 160 pivotally supported by the rod 150aand each link is provided with a pin 161a connected to an interlockstrap tl. Each of the arms i613 is provided with a head I60 projectinginto a slotted channel-shape runner 222 having a right angle extensionattached to a slide 223 supported by the wall 10. Each slide 223 is inalinement with a personal choice slot closure M0 so that movement of apersonal choice slot closure to open position swings the armcounterclockwise with consequent leftward movement of the correspondinglink l6! and its associated interlock strap 5! to bring the wedgethereof between rollers -62. Restoration of any actuated arm I60 and thecorresponding closure I40 is affected by mechanism for that purpose,described in the Shoup et a1. Patent 2,191,086.

On each spindle 38 is located an arm or butterfly B consisting of twoplates 8i and 82 having square apertures of proper size snugly toreceive the square portion of a spindle 38 and the apertures are soarranged that they register with each other only when the plates BI and82 are oriented with respect to each other and are out of register whenthe arms coincide. These arms forming the butterfly B are moreparticularly described in the copending Shoup application Serial No.14,713, filed March 13, 1948. A stud extends'from the butterfly B. Thisstud 85, as described in the last-named application, operates to lockthe two plates 3! and82 together and for other purposes presently toappear.

A safety member or plate 509 having lateral upper and lower flanges 500aand 5991) and a length sufficient to span the number of voting columnsor rows it is desired to control is provided. In the embodiment shown,this safety member or plate 590 has a length sufiicient to span threecolumns. It may be of any desired length so as to span as many columnsas are to be used. This safety member or plate Eilllis provided withvertically-arranged columns of generally rectangular apertures Bill sothat a spindle 38 may pass through each aperture. In the embodimentshown, the safety member or plate 500 has two apertures 50I per column.It may be of any desired Width, so as to have as many apertures asdesired per column so as to span as many spindles in the vertical rowsof the columns as are desired. The left wall of each aperture has anarcuate recess 502 at the bottom thereof. Each aperture 50I alsoreceives the pin or stud 85 associated with the butterfly B of thespindle 58 passing through said aperture.

Engaging means or pawls 504 are pivotally secured at 504a to the rear ofthe safety plate member 500. Biasing springs 506 are provided to biasthe pawls 504 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 7. Arms orlugs 50'I on the pawls 504 act to limit rotation of the biased pawls andnormally to maintain the biased pawls 504 in substantially verticalposition but to permit clockwise rotation. The upper edges 504' of thepawls function as limit stops as will be presentls described.

In the alternative, as shown in Fig. 8a, modified forms of engagingmeans or pawls 5041) are provided. Such pawls are pivotally secured at5040 to the rear of the safety plate member 500. A biasing spring 506?)is provided to bias pawl 5041) in a counterclockwise direction as seenin Fig. 8a. An arm or lug 5011) on the pawl 50422 acts with the lowerflange 50% of plate member 500 to limit counterclockwise rotation of thebiased pawl 504D and normally to maintain the latter in substantiallyvertical position but to permit its clockwise rotation again the biasingaction of spring 505?). The upper edge 50012 of the pawl functions as alimit stop as will be presently described. In addition, an oblique slot5040' is provided in the left side of pawl 50% adjacent the upper edge5041) for purposes of preventing repeat Voting by the same voter as willpresently be described.

A pawl bearing safety plate 500 of required length and carrying eitherthe pawls 504 or 5042) is mounted horizontally at the rear of themachine over spindles 38 of the voting machine columns it is desired tocontrol. As seen in Figs. 3-6 inelusive, the plate 500 is mounted overspindles 38 of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd columns of the machine with onespindle 38 projecting through each aperture 50I. The apertures 50I arelong enough to allow longitudinal motion of the plate 500 when thelatter is actuated as will be described by movement of various of thebutterflies B in registering votes.

The plate 500 is retained longitudinally slidable position upon thespindles 38 and guided horizontally by the retaining members 505. Eachsuch retaining member has vertically alined openings 505 to permitpassage therethrough of spindle 38. These members 505 are prevented fromsliding off the spindles by locking members 501. These locking members501 each has an opening 508 through which the square sections of thespindles 38 may pass freely and a portion 508a shaped to fit into theannular recesses 380: in the spindles 38. A second recess 508E) similarin shape to recess 500a is provided on the lower edge of member 501. Thespacing between recesses 508a and 508b is equal to the vertical distancebetween two spindles 38 in a column. The members 507 are slid onto theuppermost of the two spindles of a column that is straddled by plate 500and then moved downwardly to cause the recesses 508a and 508?) to engagein the recesses 38a in the respective spindles 30. These members 501 arethen fixed in place by studs 509 that are inserted through holes 509aand screw into threaded holes 50% provided in the mem bers 505. Thenormal position of the spindles 38 is such that when the arms 50? arefixed in place the recesses 508a and 50821 engage in recesses 38a of thespindles and cannot slide off. The members 505 have laterally bentflanges 505' and 505 that respectively overlie the top flange 500a ofthe plate 500 and underlie the bottom flange 5001) of said plate 500.Two or more such members 505 are employed on spindles 38 of various ofthe columns of spindles and their flanges 505' and 505" providehorizontal guides for the flanges 500a, 500b of plate 500 preventingupward or downward movement of the latter while the edges of top flange500a and bottom flange 500b abut the rear face of these members 505 andprevent their movement forwardly while butterfly B behind the plate 500prevent movement rearwardly of the plate 500 on the spindles 30. Otherequivalent means for effecting this result may be employed. A biasingspring 5I0 whose ends 5H and 5I2 are secured respectively to the stud509 of one of the members 505 and to a stud 5I3 projecting from theplate 500 acts to bias the plate 500 toward the right of Figs. 3-6inclusive.

Horizontally alined stop means or looking studs 5I4 are secured one toeach of the faces of the vertically movable members I to act as motionlimiters therefor in cooperation with the pawls 504 as will bedescribed.

In the normal position of parts before the voter has operated any of thestraight ticket operating handles I05, the front of the machine appearsas seen in Fig. l with all operating handles 30 and I05 substantially invertical position as shown. With such position of parts, the butterfliesB are all in lowered position with their studs 05 lying in the arcuateportions 502 of the apertures SM and with plate 500 under action ofspring 5I0 maintained in its extreme right position as shown in Fig. 3.At such time, the vertically movable plates I90 are all in theirunactuated uppermost vertical positions. The studs 5 I4 thereon then lieat a level substantially that of the upper edges 504 of the pawls 504.The latter, however, lie to the right of said studs 5I4 so that any oneof the plates I50 may be moved downwardly without interference.

As soon as a voter enters the booth and operates one of the straightparty ticket levers I95, for example, that lever I under the Democraticparty column in column 1 of Fig. 2, such action as described in theaforesaid Shoup Patent 2,191,086, causes downward movement of thevertically movable plate I90 thereof and, also, its horizontal shifttoward the left of Fig. 4 and causes all the spindles 38 in the firstcolumn set up for the group to be elected by a straight ticket vote,twenty-one in the embodiment shown to be actuated to bring thetwenty-one spindles to vote indicating position and the individualvoting handles 30 of Fig. 2 to their voting indicating position shown inthe latter figure. Such rotation of the spindles rotates the butterfliesB on these spindles (the extreme right-hand column of Fig. 4) clockwiseas seen in Fig. 4. This causes the respective studs 85 of thebutterflies B on the shaft 38 on which the plate 500 is mounted to moveout of their respective arcuate recesses 502 against the biasing actionof spring 5I0 onto the straight portions of the left sides of apertures50I, and thereby causes a longitusmas es 7 dinal. shift. of the safetyplate-member fiillttoward the left of Fig. 4 to the position showntherein. .Since the vertically movable plates I98 of columns 2 and 3have not been moved, the pawl edges 50.4of the pawls 50 i associatedwith the platetilfi are shifted by the longitudinal movement of safetyplate 5% to underlie directly the studs 5M of these plates H and engagevthe lat.- ter and lock these plates [.90 against any movement. Anyattempt, therefore, by the voter to operate the straight ticket levers['95 of the 2nd or 3rd columns is entirely precluded because the plates[98 thereof are locked against motion by .theengagement of the studs Mthereof with :theunderlying edges 53 3 of the pawls 5%.

Before longitudinal translation of the safety plate. or member 586commences, the actuation of the straight party ticket handle Hit ofcolumn -.1 has, however, moved the. stud 51.4 of this columnfsvertically movable plate. i911 downwardly into the path of travel ofpawl 504 thereof (the extreme right pawl. 564 of Fig. l). This, however,does not prevent longitudinal. shift of plate 580 toward the leftbecause the said 1astnamed pawl 584. is rotatable upon its pivot Etta inthe clockwise direction of Fig. 4 against the biasing action of itsspring 596.

As soon as the voter has operated straight party ticket. handle I95 ofcolumn 1 to bring the parts to the position of Fig. 4, he releases thathandle H95 and such action as described in the aforesaid Shoup Patent2,191,086, because the plate 190 is biased for self-restoration, causesrestoration of the. vertically movable plate I90 of column 1 as seen inFig. 5 towards its initial position. The individual spindles 38 of thestraight ticket of column 1 that have been actuated to vote indicatingpositions, however, remain in actuated position so that theirbutterflies B and associated studs 85 onshafts 38 of column 1 on whichplate 5% ismounted maintain the said safety plate Elli! in itslongitudinally shifted position to the right of Figs. 4c and 5. Intherestoring motion of plate [913, the locking stud 5M of the column 1plate simply rotates the pawl 504 clockwise as seen in Fig. dagainst thebiasing action of its spring 586.

When vertically movable plate Hill of column 1 completes its restorationor its return motion and occupies the position shown in Fig. 6, the

lockin stud thereof clears the upper edge 58d of pawl 5M and thebiasingspring fidfithereof snaps its edge 5% into underlying andlookingengaging position relative to. said last-named stud 5561 as seen in Fig.6; Such engaging. and locking action then precludes any furtheroperation of the straight party ticket lever E95 of column 1 and anyattempt. on the part of the voter to vote a second time forthe samestraight party ticket. At the sametime, the underlying edges 504 of thepawls 50.4. associated with the locking studs 5M of the otherpartycolumns which remain in their locking positions described, preventany voting operation of the straight party handles of the other partycolumnsby locking action of their plates iSd-against vertical movementeifectedby. the said. locking engage.- ment.

If the locking pawls 5M1) are used on: plates 5% rather than pawls 5.64,the same general.ac:- tion occurs as that described. for pawl 594'. Inaddition, however, the restoring motion of mov able plate we of column 1in its upward..moy.e.- ment causes stud Edit to clearthe level. of thelower edge. of recess-or slot Elise. andengages it. soon as this occursany attempt to- 0 erate the voted ticket handle I95 a second time tov avoting position to repeat the vote cast is prevented because suchengagement prevents any further voting movement of plate I88. When thelatter completesits restoring movement, the stud 5W engages the top edgete lb of pawl St ll) and this edge 50% then acts in the same way as edgeEnd.

The only way a voter could possibly reoperate one of the straight partyhandles a second time to vote a different straight ticket would be forhim to manually restore to initial unvoted position each one. of thelevers 38 that had been shifted by his initial straight party vote. Suchaction would restore the machine and its safety plate Silt) to thecondition shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and permit reaction of the straightparty lever of any one of the columns. However, such restoration wouldre-set the counters C to their positions existing when the voter enteredthe booth and would not record illegal additional votes for any partys.candidates.

The provision, therefore, of the safety mechanism embodying theinvention provides an effective safety device which prevents illegalvoting operations by a voter of a straight party ticket and precludesthe likelihood of registration of illegalv votes for individualcandidates other than those in the selected party group or the votingof. more than one straight party ticket by a voter.

In connection with the mechanism disclosed, it is useful under certainconditions where voters may vote for an individual candidate first, bypulling the individual levers 3t adjacent an individual name andthereafter endeavor to pull the straight ticket lever of the same or anopposing political party. This, however, can be prevented. by providingthe plate 5% with as many apertures 535 as there are candidates runningso that the spindles 38 adjacent all the individual candidates names areincluded among those extending through apertures 583.! of theplateillll. In such instance, operation of the individual spindle 38adjacent such candidates name to voting position will cause the fingerof its butterfly B to actuate the plate 599 to the locking positiondescribed and thereby preclude any voting operation of any of thestraight ticket mechanisms. This will not, however, prevent the voterfrom changing his mind and inistead of casting a straight ticket votebecause on such change of mind he merely needs to restoretheindividually voted candidate lever or levers to initial unvotedcondition. When all are. so restored, the biasing action of spring tiltwill restore plate 58 .3 to initial condition and thereby permit him tocast a single straight ticket. vote as described herein.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed,variations in detail within the scope of the claims are possible and arecontemplated. There is no intention, therefore,.of limitation to theexactdetails shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a voting machine a column of voting spindles, an arm fixed to eachspindle, a finger on each arm extending parallel to the spindle axis,straight ticket operating means including a vertically movable plate foroperating predetermined of the voting spindles in the columnsimultaneously to vote recording position, and biased forself-restoration upon. release. after a voting operation, a safetymember slidable at right angles to said spindles and having aperturesfor passage through each of one of said spindles, a spring biased pawlpivotally secured to said safety member, a stop member on saidvertically movable plate, said safety member being slidable at rightangles to said spindles by the action of one of said fingers uponrotation of said predetermined spindles to vote recording positioneffected by operation of said straight ticket operating means to avoting position, said pawl being positioned on said safety member sothat during a slide of said safety member by said action of one of saidfingers said pawl will pivot in opposition to its spring bias uponengagement of said pawl with said stop member thereby permitting thesaid slide of said safety member to be completed, and upon completion ofsaid slide and upon self-restoration of said vertically movable memberupon release after a voting operation the spring bias of said pawl willposition it to then underlie said stop member and lock said verticallymovable plate against vertical movement in a voting direction andthereby preclude further operation of said straight ticket operatingmeans to voting position.

2. In a voting machine, a plurality of columns of voting spindles, anarm fixed to each spindle, a finger on each arm extending parallel tothe spindle axis, vertically movable plates one for operating each of apredetermined number of spindles in a selected column of spindles tovote recording positions, straight party ticket operating handles onefor operating each of said vertically movable plates, said plates andhandles being biased for self-restoration upon release after a votingoperation, a safety plate slidable at right angles to said spindles andhaving substantially rectangular apertures for passage through each of aspindle, spring biased pawls pivotally secured to said safety plate,stop members on said vertically movable plates, said safety plate beingmovable longitudinally at right angles to said spindles upon movement tovote recording positions of predetermined spindles of a column effectedby operation of the straight party ticket handle associated with saidlastnamed column to a voting position, said pawls corresponding innumber to the stop members and being positioned on said safety plate sothat when the latter is moved longitudinally as aforesaid a pawl willthen underlie the stop member of each of the unactuated of saidvertically movable plates and a pawl under action of its spring biaswill also underlie the stop member of the actuated of said verticallymovable plates upon self-restoration of the latter after completion of avoting operation thereof, all of said pawls then acting to look all thevertically movable plates and thereby then precluding further operationof any of said straight party operating handles to voting positions.

3. In a voting machine, safety mechanism for limiting straight ticketoperation of the machine to a single straight ticket operation for eachvoter comprising a plurality of rotatable vote indicating spindles,straight ticket means for simultaneously actuating all of predeterminedof said spindles in one direction to vote recording position and biasedfor self-restoration with release after actuation, a safety plateslidable guidedly and transversely of the spindle axes and being biasedin one direction, said plate having substantially rectangular aperturesfor passage through each thereof of a spindle, arm

iii

means on spindles passing through the apertures and en ageable withwalls of the apertures when the latter-named spindles are rotated tovote recording positions to slide the safety plate in a directionopposite to the direction in which said safety plate is biased, a biasedpawl pivotally secured to said safety plate and a stop member on saidstraight ticket means, the biasing of said pivotally secured pawlallowing said pawl to clear said stop member during said slide of saidsafety plate in said opposite direction and acting to pivot said pawlinto a locking position beneath said stop member; upon completion ofactuation of said straight ticket means to preclude any furtheractuation thereof by the same voter for vote recording purposes whileany actuated spindle having arm means thereon and passing through anaperture of said safety plate is in its vote recording position.

4. In a voting machine, safety mechanism for limiting straight ticketoperation of the machine to a single s raight ticket operation for eachvoter comprising a plurality of rotatable vote indicating spindlesarranged in vertical columns, individual straight ticket operating meansfor each individual vertical column for simultaneously actuating all ofpredetermined of the spindles of the selected vertical column in onedirection to a vote recording position and biased for self-restorationwith release after actuation, a safety plate spanning the verticalcolumns and slidable guidedly transversely of the spindle axes and beingbiased in one direction toward a first position, said plate havingsubstantially rectangular apertures for passage through each thereof ofa spindle, arm means on each such spindle engageable with said safetyplate for effecting a transverse movement of said safety plate inopposite direction to the biased direction of said plate to a secondposition; upon actuation of any of such spindles to vote indicatingposition by actuation of a straight ticket means, stop memberscorresponding in number to the number of columns straddled by saidsafety plate, one being associated with the straight ticket operatingmeans for each vertical column, and spring-biased pivoted pawls mountedon said safety plate, one for interaction with each of the stop members,whereby upon a voting actuation of any one of said straight ticketoperating means the said safety plate will be moved transversely to itssecond position by the arm means of those spindles thereby moved to voteindicating positions, the movement of said safety plate to its secondposition moving with it said pawls to locking positions relative to saidstop members, the one of said pawls interacting with the stop member ofthe actuated of said straight ticket operating means pivotally yieldingin opposition to its spring bias during the said movement of said safetyplate to its second position to eliminate interference by saidlast-named stop member with said movement of said plate member to saidsecond position, and the said last-named of said pawls being moved byits spring bias into its locking position with its interacting stopmember upon self-restoration of the actuated of said straight ticketop-- erating means.

5. In a voting machine, a column of voting spindles, an arm fixed toeach spindle, a finger on each arm extending parallel to the spindleaxis, straight ticket operating means including a vertically movableplate for operating pre determined of the voting spindles in the columnsimultaneously to vote recording position and biased forselferestorationupon release after a voting operation, :a safety membersi-idable at right angles :to said spindles from a .first position :to asecond position and having apertures forpassage through each of one ofsaid spindles, a spring-biased pawl pivotally secured to said safetyplate, a stop member on said vertically movable plate, said safetymember being slidable from its first position to its second position bythe action of one of said fingers upon a wall of the aperture throughwhich the spindle hearing it passes upon operation of the latter spindleto 'a vote recording position, said pawl being positioned on said safetymember to yield in .opposition to its spring bias upon engagement withsaid stop member during sliding movement of said safety member from itsfirst position to its second'position, and said pawl uponself-restoration of the said vertically movable plate underlying saidstop member to then look said vertically movable plate against furtherstraight ticket voting operations While said second position of saidsafety member is maintained "by said last-named spindle.

6. In a voting machine having a plurality of vertical columns of Votingspindles individually rotatable from initial positions to vote recordingpositions, and individual straight ticket operating means for eachcolumn of spindles including a vertically movable plate movable from afirst position to a second position and biased for selfrestoration toits first position, a stop member fixed on each movable plate, a safetyplate slidable at right angles to the spindles from a first position toa second position, arm means on selected of the spindles for slidingsaid safety plate from its first position to its second position whenany of the selected spindles is rotated to vote recording position, aplurality of springbiased pawl members pivotally supported on saidsafety plate at spaced-apart points each having a surface adapted to liein a locking position relative to one of the stop members when saidsafety plate is in its second position, said surfaces lying =clear ofsaid stop members when said safety plate is in its first position, thespring bias of said pawl members permitting movement of said safetyplate from its first position to its secnd position notwithstandingengagement between any of said pawl members with astop member'duringmovement of said safety plate from its first position to its secondposition, said surfaces of said pawl members in their locking positionsrelative to said stop members acting to prevent any actuation of any ofsaid straight ticket operating means, and spring-biasing means urgingsaid safety plate toward its first position whereby said surfaces ofsaid pawl members will lie out of locking engagement whenever the armmeans on all of the selected of the spindles are rotated to initialpositions.

7. A device as per claim 6 in which each pawl hasan additionallockingsurface each engageable with a stop member in intermediate-positions ofthe vertically movable plates between their first and second positions.

8. In a voting machine, a plurality of vertical columns of individuallyrotatable voting spindles,

individual straight ticket operating, means for.

each column of spindles for rotating selected of the. spindles in eachcolumn from initial positions to vote indicating positions and includinga vertically movable plate biased for self-restoration to a firstposition upon completion of .a voting operation of the individualstraight ticket operating means associated therewith, a safety platespanning a selected number of vertical columns of spindles and havingapertures arranged in vertical columns and horizontal rows through each.of which a voting spindle projects,

arm means borne on spindles projecting through the apertures, said armmeans each being engageable with a wall of the aperture through whichthe spindle bearing it projects, springbiasing means for said safetyplate to urge said safety plate toward an initial position, means :forsupporting said safety plate for horizontal slidable movementsubstantially at right angles to the axes of the voting spindles, vastop member secured to each vertically movable plate and movabletherewith, a plurality of pivotally supported pawls each having'alocking edge mounted upon said safety plate, spring-biasing :means forbiasing the locking edge of each pawl to a determined position, saidpawls corresponding in number to the number of vertical columns ofspindles spanned by said safety plate, said pawls being positioned onsaid safety plate so that their locking edges lie out of the travelpaths of the stop members that are supported on the Vertically movableplates of the spanned vertical columns of spindles when said safetyplate is in its initial position, operation of any one of said straightticket means of any column causing the vertically movable plate memberthereof to rotate the selected spindles in the latter column to voteindicating position, the arm means on rotated of the spindles of thelatter column then acting on aperture walls .of said safety plate tomove said safety plate horizontally away from its initial position inopposition to its springbiasing means to a second position wherein thelocking edge of each pawll lies in looking position relative to the'pathof travel of one of the stop members, the arm means of the votingspindles that have been rotated acting to maintain said safety plate .inits said second position, the springbiasing means of .saidpawlspermitting clearance between that one thereof and the stop member of theactuated of the vertically movable plates in intermediate positions ofthe actuated vertically movable plate, and said safety plate beingreturned to its initial position by its springbiasing means only whenthe arm means on all vote rotated spindles passing through apertures insaid safety plate are restored to their initial positions.

RANSOM F. SHOUP.

REFERENCES CITED Name Date Lausterer Oct. 3, 1916 Number Certificate ofCorrection Patent No. 2,498,380 February 21, 1950 RANSOM F. SHOUP It ishereby certified that errors appear in the printed specification of theabove numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 5, line 34, for the word again reed against; line 55, before theword longitudinally insert in; column 10, line 13, after member strikeout the semicolgn; line 40, after position strike out the semi-colon;line 61, after its insert sat and that the said Letters Patent should beread with these corrections therein that the same may conform to therecord of the case in the Patent Oifice.

Signed and sealed this 23rd day of May, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

Certificate of Correction Patent N 0. 2,498,380 February 21, 1950 RANSOMF. SHOUP It is hereby certified that errors appear in the printedspecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction asfollows:

Column 5, line 34, for the word again read against; line 55, before theword lon itudinally insert in; column 10 line 13 after member strike outthe semicolon; line 40, after position strike out the semi-colon; line61, after its insert said;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these correctionstherein that the same may conform to the record of the case in thePatent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 23rd day of May, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Gammz'ssz'oner of Patents.

